Impact of the Technical Means and Technologies on Mechanical Soil Erosion on Slopes

The article presents the influence of used tillage machines and technologies of agricultural crops cultivation on mechanical soil erosion on slope agricultural landscapes. Under the action of tillage and sowing machines working bodies, the soil is systematically shifted down the slope. (Research purpose) Identify ways to reduce mechanical soil erosion on the slopes in the cultivation of grain and row crops by improving technology and technical means. (Materials and methods) The authors established that the mechanical soil erosion that occurred when processing slopes working bodies in the form of a triangular wedge depended on the parameters of the working body, the steepness of the slope and the movement direction of the unit relative to the horizontal field. Mechanical soil erosion in one field per season varied depending on the technology of cultivation, as it depended on the number and depth of treatments. (Results and discussion) The authors showed that the transition from traditional technologies of cultivating grain and row crops to conservation, energy-saving and Strip-till technologies led to a corresponding reduction in erosion, and the transition to zero technology eliminated the occurrence of mechanical erosion. It was determined that during the cultivation of crops on slopes of 6 degrees there was no mechanical erosion per season by zero technology, by energy-saving technology did not exceed 15 millimeters, by soil protection technology – 35 millimeters, and by traditional – reached 145 millimeters. The authors noted that when cultivating corn by traditional technology on 6-degree slopes, mechanical soil erosion reached 87 millimeters per season. Therefore, to preserve the soil during the corn cultivation, they considered the transition to Strip-till technology. (Conclusions) To reduce the mechanical soil erosion, the authors proposed to switch from traditional technologies for cultivating crops to soil-protective, energy-saving, zero technologies and Strip-till technologies.